little bit. >> president obama on the ground in michigan. >> i will work with republicans. >> delivering a speech at an engine manufacturing plant. >> i'm willing to compromise a little bit. >> i'm willing to compromise a little bit. >> they are ready to make a deal. >> they are ready to make a deal on tax rates. >> republicans know that they have to give on taxes. >> i don't think there's a republican alive who can stop what is happening. >> senator corker has nailed this one. >> the leverage is going to shift. >> you have to have leverage. >> we don't have the leverage. the power isn't there. >> could a secret meeting seal the deal when it come to the fiscal cliff? the white house says it can happen. >> president obama and speaker boehner sit down at the white house. >> their first one on one in three weeks. >> the heavy lifting is going to have to happen this week. >> if this week goes bad -- >> this week is going to be a critical week. >> even if the speaker and president are cuddling in the lincoln bedroom -- >> i think everybody needs to cool their jets. >> that's no

this election. you have to bear in mind that the economy collapsed under a republican president and it's going to take a while for the voters to forget that. the economy was not good under barack obama, but neither was it bad enough to drive him out of office. i would not over interpret the election. the republican candidate was all that great. i like mitt romney, but often, when we elect presidents, we let them for eight years. we oust aery often president after four years. it's on happened a handful of times. let's face it -- obama is a very gifted politician and he had some good fortune. the supreme court decision certainly helped him. the economy bounced back in the third quarter, it appears aided by an of spike in federal spending. he had some pretty good employment numbers. i would not over interpret the results of the election. i would suspect republicans will do well in the midterm elections and i would expect them to win the 2016 election. assuming they get a good candidate. >> i teach history at northern virginia community college. do you see any parallel between the whig

further." why would president obama's fcc chairman, try to do now what the republicans couldn't do then? >> that is a very good question, bill. and i don't have the answer. and it's not only that the senate passed a strong resolution. there were public hearings. and there was the opportunity for the public to give input into this decision making process. and huge numbers of people said, "wait a second, we do not need more media consolidation in america." senate came on record. so why the obama administration is doing something that the bush administration failed to do is beyond my understanding. and we're going to do everything we can to prevent it from happening. >> you may remember that back in 2007, your then senatorial colleague, barack obama wrote a strong letter to the republican chairman of the fcc who wanted to change the rules, just like genachowski is doing now. and he condemned the very tactics that his own fcc chairman is employing today. >> absolutely. and we hope the president will get involved in this issue. so i don't-- to be honest with you, i don't know the intern

president barack obama. now, the fcc tried to pull this same stunt under a republican chairman back in the second term of george w. bush, but at hearings held around the country an angry public fought back. >> we told you a year ago when you came to seattle that media consolidation is a patently bad idea. no "ifs," "ands," or "buts" about it. so with all due respect i ask you, what part of that didn't you understand? >> i'm a republican and i'm a capitalist, but some areas of our private sector must be regulated. freedom of information is too important, we must be proactive in protecting that fundamental freedom. >> if the fcc is here wanting to know if chicago's residents are being well served, the answer is no. if local talent is being covered, the answer is no. if community issues are being treated sensitively, the answer is no. if minority groups are getting the coverage and input that they need, the answer is no. the answer is no. >> if you will not stand up for we the people, then i have news for you. we the people are standing up for ourselves. this is our media, and we are taking i

minorities and women. back then, senator barack obama opposed the fcc's proposal. so did senators joe biden and hillary clinton. but now, president obama's man at the fcc -- they were friends in law school -- apparently wants to do what the republicans couldn't do under president bush, and to do it behind the scenes, out of sight, with no public hearings. several public interest groups, civil rights organizations and labor unions opposed the move, and last week, senator bernie sanders and several of his colleagues called on chairman genachowski to hold off. bernie sanders is an outspoken opponent of media consolidation. he sees it as a threat to democracy. once the mayor of burlington, vermont, he served 16 years in the house of representatives and was recently re-elected to his second term in the senate. he's the longest serving independent in the history of congress. he was in new york earlier this week and we met for this interview. welcome. good to see you again. >> good to be with you, bill. >> this is a strong letter, inspired one of your colleagues in the senate says, by you. w

gotten the republicans into an argument over taxes. and then i give obama great credit for this to revive never seen anybody better at finding to field distractions in order to live with responsibility. [applause] let me say to give you a 2012 variation on ronald reagan's the 51975 bold colors pastels it isn't a winning formula for the republican party. [applause] flights start of the media operates in collaboration with the white house first to create panic. you are going to run off the fiscal cliff unless you do what you're told to do and you are a bad person if you ask a question what is the fiscal cliff and will america be dramatically different on gentry second if we just hold our breath and see what happens. second, moved to destruction. the destruction is grover norquist. i've known grover norquist for a long time. i think that he is a fine person. there is no elective office. and in fact he wasn't elected president. so we have the president of the united states who was responsible for figuring out how to solve the problems who has not offered a single serious cost-cutting m

think it still plays into what president obama was talking about yesterday. on the heels of the election, this issue of economic disparity, this issue of workers versus -- you know, 2% versus 98%. i mean, this puts the republicans, again, in the position of standing on the side of, you know, big corporatings, not on the side of the 98% of the workers. that's where the president is trying to go with that messaging. >> it does and doesn't. i would argue the president's effort to bundle this, to use your word, that is not proven. no one has really married successfully the issue of a labor issue, say, in wisconsin or now michigan with the larger the middle class conversation. as a political issue, this is very different, i think, from a purely labor issue because labor is no longer -- labor used to be the democratic party's core. right now there is some disconnect between the labor movement and the sort of broader democratic constitch wednesdayys, you know, and many of which should have defined the last election. if you think of hispanics and women, these sht -- i mean, obviously th

: but some say it will be republicans' fingerprints. >>guest: it depends what happens. if they vote for raising taxes half as much as obama wants it ruins what we stand for because we stand if limited government and less taxation. to we go halfway or we split the difference, then, both parties have their hands on it and we go in recession it will be confusing. but i want to be the party of lower taxes and limited government and if we go halfway or become president obama lite or democrat lite, that is not why i ran for office. >>neil: we appreciate you stopping by. senator rand paul. maybe presidential candidate, we don't know. that is another interview. we have a lot more coming up including marco rubio weighing in on the debate. and chris van hollen and in the face of the michigan protests. the president has said this is about the middle class and traveled to michigan to illustrate 9 point. does he have a point? ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle that's just right for you, no matter which list you're on. [

barack obama, trying to win that will be truly the super bowl, and the republican party today is incapable of competing at that level. >> incapable of competing at that level. what a statement. hillary clinton isn't saying anything right now about her plans. "the new york times" reported over the weekend that aides and friends say they expect she'll exit the state department shortly after the inauguration this january 20th and spend a couple months resting and thinking about what she wants to do next. i think that makes sense. and we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] with a select terrain dial that adjusts the jeep grand cherokee's performance for specific weather and road conditions... ♪ ...even heavy snowstorms... won't keep you from getting to work. our apologies. ♪ >>> welcome back to "hardball." when the governor of a major state switches political parties, it's very big news. it's last time this happened in a big state was when the former governor of texas, john conley, switched in 1973. now we've got former florida governor charlie crist who served the state as

. quite interesting. now here's a political threat. is the republicans at risk of becoming the party of the rich while president obama and the democrats stake the claim as the party of the middle class? let's talk. we have cnbc contributor howard dean, former vermont governor and democratic presidential candidate. and we welcome back katie paveli pavelich, author and news editor for townhall.com. listen to this poll from the latest cnbc all american survey. listen to this. americans are split over who is more to blame, 21% blame obama and the democrats. 23% blame the gop. and 52% blame both sides equally. now, i think that 52% is because howard dean wants to tax everyone. howard, defend your position. you may be single handedly bailing out the republican party by wanting to tax the middle class and everybody else. >> i'm just telling the truth, larry. i think senator paul is a fine person but his economic theory is whack job stuff. the idea -- we've already had big tax cuts. that's why we have the deficit we have. the truth is, if you want to balance the budget, which i do, you have to

republicans say we can't wait to repeal obama care, and the insurance exchanges. well, where does a person turn if they are 65 years of age and the medicare eligibility age is 67? they have two years there where they may not have the best of health. they need accessible, affordable medical insurance during that period. >> congressman, is there a deal by january 1? and if there are tax increases as part of a deal, on tax rates, is there a republican civil war that's going to start? >> the president says he wants tax rate because he wants revenue. republicans already offered him the revenue. the president also says he wants a balanced approach. that means 2 1/2 to 3 times as many spending cuts as there are two revenue. we have spent all of this time talking about revenue. but as we watched, our government continued to spend more. this is really about spending. you listen to the senator right there, he doesn't want to move on spending. and that's the core of the problem. i don't think republicans or americans want to raise any taxes just to continue the spending in washington. they wan

being controlled by republicans in ohio. immediately after that, the democrats and the obama for america campaign filed petitions to put it up to a referendum. they got enough petitions come and then eventually the legislature repealed it at my suggestion because it was becoming too -- the rhetoric was heated and we needed to start over and avoided the cost of the referendum. that's what happened during the course of the battle trying to find the balance between access and accuracy in balancing that reform and a high of. we had no reform, the damage was done. a set of the partisan feelings that continued through 2012 and even spawned if there was one moment of bipartisan agreement we did pass in the military voter bill during that process it had an amendment to shut down the early voting during the saturday, sunday and monday before the election so that the board of elections would have time to accommodate all of the early votes since the expected to do cash. they passed on a unanimous basis, and eventually it blew up and became the first of the eight federal lawsuits in ohio sai

oriented. they are looking for compromise in washington. is it a pro-obama group or republican? it is really its own group. host: who are some of the names people might recognize, the ceo's of which companies? guest: the efforts the white house has made this year is much larger and much more effective than it was last year. they are bringing in more people with business ford but with a lot of other organizations as well. the president spoke with financial services leaders and has brought in two groups of big-name ceos. -- the president has spoken with business forward. of out of 10 per ceo's small companies. -- tend to be ceo's of small companies. smaller investors, smaller business owners. host: what are the members concerns with the fiscal cliff stocks? guest: for most small-business owners and senior executives at big companies, the fear is that going over the cliff, even on a technical term, will increase their borrowing costs and will put our economic recovery at risk. most business leaders point to simpson-bowles. they understand that we have to raise revenue and we also have to

now may not work for house republicans. even if there is an agreement between speaker boehner and president obama, it is not clear it will be acceptable. host: david is on the phone from york, pennsylvania, republican line, good morning. caller: i'm calling from arkansas, actually. i am an attorney and i've tried to watch the actions of this president. i take into consideration the books he read and he uses the philosophers who taught him as he grew up. i really believe that based on the way he is trying -- that based on the way he has been trained, i think the president wants to go over the cliff because that will achieve the things he was buried he wants to break up the republican party. he wants to break its back and then he also wants to go over the cliff because he wants to have a financial crisis because if you look at the study, that is the only way he can really achieve the type of social and fiscal non-responsibility he wants to achieve. that is break the back of the economy and then we have a crisis and then he will come in and fix it. it is a very socialist way that wil

. >> obama: the most important thing we can do is make sure the middle class taxes don't go up on january 1st and i'm pretty confident that republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to try to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals. >> yeah, we'll see. >> stephanie: that's what john yarmuth thinks will happen. the president's carney. >> very specific spending cuts, including savings and entitlement programs and again it's not a mystery. we've seen this before. this is the document. >> stephanie: liz in illinois. you're on "the stephanie miller show." hey, liz. >> caller: hi. i'm in illinois. we don't care about the tools in wisconsin, indiana and michigan. because we this -- they have to learn that these republicans aren't going to do -- >> stephanie: thank you, liz. i enjoyed your work as charlie brown's teacher. i don't know what was wrong with that call. was it me? [ applause ] >> she was using her "sports illustrated" sneaker phone. or football phone. whatever. >> stephanie: something about republicans in michigan. wa wa. she had some good points. >> speak dir

for us to take. many republicans have no leverage in this face-off. democrats agree sending the senate-passed tax cut to president obama's desk is the quickest and most sensible way out of this crisis. avoiding the fiscal cliff is no excuse for republicans to replace this artificial crisis with another one. congress should pass the proposal to end periodic standoffs over the debt ceiling. this plan would give president obama the authority to avoid default over the nation's bills. democrats are ready to vote any time but first senator mcconnell needs to stop filibustering his own legislation rhode island now speaker boehner and minority leader mcconnell are the only thing standing between congress and compromise. it's time for them to prove to american families that they're more interested in protecting the medal class than pleasing the tea party. mr. president, on another subject, i rise to honor our colleague, the senior senator from nebraska, ben nelson, upon his retirement from the united states senate, to become effective after the first of the year. for 12 years senator nelson has

lot going for it in the way it does business. because around pal of the obamas. you get a free rein. megyn: one wonders if it had been a republican lawmaker standing up in ohio after the righright to work push was defed saying there would be blood in jay carney would have defended him saying i'm not sure it means what you think this means. >> there there would be a move on the floor of the house of representatives for an immediate censure of this congressman. but we know how this game is played. the unions are being rolled back. megyn: i was off yesterday, and i took this news in as consumer. what i saw more than anything was that they seemed very, very angry. the union folks seemed really, really angry. what is it about? >> power. >> explain why they hate it so much. >> it's about power. they see that in wisconsin their influence was rolled back. they see in 24 states unions can no longer just demand that any worker regardless of whether that worker wants to be a member of the union or wants to support the political beliefs of the union, has to fork over the money. it means less mo

. >> thank you, senator. we do represent a broad range of views from within the senate, the republican caucus, the democratic caucus, but there is a unanimous view here today that we support president obama in announcing a red line that assad, who has murdered tens of thousands of his people in the last two years, take the unthinkable step of using advanced chemical weapons against his own people, there will be prompt consequences. this is not an easy thing to get a consensus in the senate on virtually anything. i join the statement to send a clear message to those from outside the halls of the capitol who see is in division on fiscal and policy matters, there has been division. but on the matter of standing behind our president in making a clear statement that we will not stand by as assad uses weapons of mass destruction against his own people, is something where a unanimous voice is the only way we can effectively deter and call on the russians to be responsible partners, to be accountable for having gotten us in some way to this point and we can say with one voice that we are deepl

-elected president barack obama claims to have for his leftist agenda. if republicans cave in now when it really counts, next time you will be baeker, because your conservative base will be outraged. many who worked hard to elect you in the past will never lift a finger for you again." >> those are tough words! >> you know the old bob novak, he used to say that republicans were put on earth to cut taxes. and if they don't, they have no purpose. >> no purpose, yeah. >> that was bob novak. you know, all of a sudden we're faced with a set of circumstances where we're talking about cutting taxes on spending, and now we've got stuff on the table to react to, and conservatives don't feel comfortable with what's on the table. >> so what is it that conservatives would like to have happen? in other words, compromise. you need compromise to get a deal done, but you're sort of saying don't compromise. >> no, we're saying have a serious conversation. the president is proposing taking an aspirin when we've got a bad case of pneumonia. you've got a trillion-dollar deficit this year, $172 billio

-- [inaudible] i have a concern that republicans, like, i did vote for barack obama four years ago, in this time not because i think he betrayed most of his promises. and i would like to see his nobel prize withdrawn too. this would be the first recall of a nobel prize. given that, i think that republicans should move, in my opinion, to the left of democrats, which means you've got to get rid of your right-wing, fascists you have in the party. and that's the only way to win. and i hope -- >> what's your question? what's your question? >> so my question is will the country move just like we gave george bush two terms even though he had screwed up after the four-of -- four-year? is it that if hillary clinton runs as a democrat, she will get the big hammer for all the failures of the obama administration, and the republicans will by default win? >> the last question. boy, we've got lots of questions still. okay, let's take this around and then see if we have some time left over. try to -- we do only have a few minutes, so this is your, i think, treat this as your -- yeah, treat this a

report, straight ahead. >>> house republicans give president obama a counteroffer on a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. will it be a compromise the president can agree with? >> flames shoot more than 70 feet in the air as a gas explosion destroys homes in one community. what went wrong? that story, coming up. >>> guests include elijah cummings, charlie crist and marsha blackburn. "starting point" begins right now. >> hi, everybody. holiday shoppers scrambling for cover at a crowded mall after a gunman opened fire. 10,000 people inside the clackamas town center mall when a man wearing a mask suddenly started firing. chaos erupted. when it was over, three people dead, including the shooter himself. a young woman left wounded, fighting for her life right now. >> the mall is supposed to be a place we can all take our families, feel comfortable that this is a great place, especially at the holiday season like this. and these things aren't supposed to happen. >> i want to begin with dan simon live in portland. we know that the police have identified the shooter, but is there any indication of a

senators are joining a republican-led effort to repeal a new medical tax tied to president obama's health care overhaul that they all voted for. but now they say it could have a devastating impact. it's called the medical device tax, and starting next year it will impose a 2.3% tax on all medical devices. it's supposed to bring in nearly $29 billion over the next ten years which, according to the medical industry, will in turn force them to cut more than 40,000 jobs. stu varney is the anchor of varney and company on fox business network. hi, stu. >> how you doing? alisyn: i'm doing well. it's interesting that this group of democratic senators -- two very well known ones from minnesota, senator al franken and amy klobuchar -- are now asking for a delay on this tax. they actually want it repealed. >> yep. alisyn: where were they two years ago? >> that's a very good question. maybe they hadn't read it all in detail, because that tax was in there. three weeks to go before this tax is imposed, before costs are raised on granny's hip, before jobs are lost in the medical device industry, suddenl

war over this issue. it does not look like obama is ready to cave. if that forces republican leaders to compromise staunch conservatives will likely rebel. more "bill press" up after the break. we will be right back. exciting issue. from financial regulation, iran getting a nuclear bomb, civil war in syria, fraud on wall street, destruction of medicare and medicaid. there are real issues here. having been a governor, i know that trade-offs are tough. things everyday exploding around the world that leave no shortage for exciting conversations. i want our viewer to understand why things have happened. at the end of the show, you know what has happened, why its happened and more importantly, what's going to happen tomorrow. at cepacol we've heard people are going to extremes to relieve their sore throats. oh, okay, you don't need to do that. but i don't want any more of the usual lozenges and i want new cooling relief! ugh. how do you feel? now i'm cold. hmm. this is a better choice. new cepacol sensations cools instantly, and has an active ingredient that stays with you long after the

republicans have said they want tax reform. president obama said the same. we need tax reform. immigration and tax reform post the fiscal cliff will create a legacy and may see congress doing something. >> that is why it is so important that they figure out a way to come together before the end of the year hopefully. if the environment is poisoned like it was after the stimulus, after the health care debate, the next four years will be ugh low. >> that's true. the higher number of women increases the chances. we will see. >> i saw the women here smiling. we were talking about how collaborative they were. the guys, not so much. >> we don't smile. i agree. the more women the better. i'm agreeing with you. can i say nothing? i said the more women, the better. i'm agreeing with you. the more women, the less self destructive egos and getting to a deal. do you have a problem with that. >> no,i don't. >> go with it. i give up. >> all right. still ahead, hollywood mogul joins us on set and author sebastian younger will be here. more morning joe in a moment. ♪ for over 40 years, we've brought our

stories. president obama playing fiscal cliff hardball this morning. he's telling republicans he will not agree to a deal that doesn't include a tax hike on the wealthiest americans, hardening his position on this. he'll be meeting with business leaders today. >>> later this morning, speaker john boehner meets with fellow house republicans. sources tell cnn gop leaders are looking for a way out. >> it turns out the barefoot recipient of boots by a new york city police officer was shoeless but guess what, not homeless. city officials say jeffrey hillman does have stable housing, an parm in the bronx. they say he's lived there rent-free for the past three years. but hillman regularly panhandles in times square. >> a former boy scout who says he was sexually abused is suing is the boy scouts of america. the lawsuit claims his former troop leader, thomas hacker was barred from the group in indiana in the 1970s but was able to rejoin as a volunteer in illinois in the 1980s. hacker was arrested in 1988, later convicted in the aggravated sexual assault of an 11-year-old troop member in illin

. you're in "the situation room." >>> we begin with president obama getting into a new fight with republicans and it's a fight he may actually lose. this afternoon in detroit, the president blasted a package of anti-union bills. michigan republicans, governor, is ush pushing through his state's legislature. >> what we shouldn't do, i just got to say this, what we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions. >> even though the cheering went on for nearly half a minute, it looks like those anti-union bills may, in fact, have enough support to pass michigan's legislature, despite union threats of massive demonstrations. cnn's alison kosik is in the capital, lance, watching what's going on. explain what the fight is all about, why it's so intense. >> reporter: well, first of all, here at the michigan state capit capital, it's more about the calm before the storm. those demonstrations of thousands of people descending on the state capitol. police are gearing up for what's coming up tomorrow when the votes are expected to happ

blow it. if president obama is flexible and they don't meet him part way, republicans would contribute to a recession that would discredit them for a decade. but they are moving in the right direction and moving fast. these are first steps, and encouraging ones. >> really encouraging. and it's not just what they're saying. it's how they're saying it. eric cantor came on. we've all, i think at times, even i as a conservative, who would vote probably along with eric cantor 99% of the time. saw him at times over the past couple years being a bit more obstructionist than i think was good for the party. i thought i loved his tone the other day. what did he focus on? he focused on jobs, on proving that conservatism actually helped all americans, not 53%, not 47%. and yesterday when i talked to jim demint on the phone, i expected to hear one thing. instead i heard another. which is we've all been chained to this republican message. we have got to prove again that conservatism helps all americans. we've done a terrible job delivering that message. we've elected leaders that don't believe in th

people? and you have this divide between -- i think a strong ideological position on the republican side, not rates, and somewhat ideological, somewhat practical position on the obama side saying we can't get to $1.6 trillion without doing rates. now, we're not going to get to $1.6 trillion, so it becomes academic. >> can we get to $1.2 trillion where i think and others think we're going to end up without raising the rates? >> you can do it mathematically. it works. you can write laws that do it. the question you have to say to yourself, do you want to start eliminating charitable deductions for state and local taxes, for charitable, for health care, even, for retirement funds? in other words, do you really want to turn people's behavior kind of inside-out almost overnight by changing the way taxes work so quickly? >> mark, you're as plugged in as anybody in washington right now. are these guys talking to each other in a real, meaningful way? i know they put out the information that the president talked to john boehner yet, but are there real behind-the-scenes intense negotiations a

support president obama's tax proposal. coburn joins a growing chorus of republicans from outside the house of representatives, urging house leadership to clear the way for a broad deal that would include tax increases on the wealthy. however, as we mentioned, according to "the new york times," speaker boehner is enjoying broad support from within his own caucus. and yesterday boehner stuck to his guns, favoring closing tax loopholes and capping deductions. to raising taxes. >> now, the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from, guess who? the rich. there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates which we believe will harm our economy. >> so could we just agree right now, everybody around the table, that both sides are talking about tax increases for the rich? >> i think so. >> it's just a difference between do you get tax increases for the rich? do you get the revenue by raising the top rate or by closing loopholes? i mean, that is where we are now in the debate,